posted
Ok so after I decided on some 3 way components for the front i decided to house the 6.5 in the kick panels. I went to the local shops and got a estimated $500 for the pair...for just the 6.5...so here I am. I do everything on my own but always feared fiberglass because of all the storys i heard of ruined carpet and weak enclosures but now after reading all the information on the board i will finaly try fiberglassing on my own. Either this or spend $500 on simple kicks. Either way i now have turned my attention to a fiberglass face for my sub enclosure . Now to the questions...i understand that i need resin, cloth or fleece, and mat. Can someone explain what each one is or if i have them confused. Cloth or fleece is to make the shape, resin is to....harden? But i heard the fiberglass mat is for strength, and that resin couldnt do it on its on. So if its possible could someone just explain all three, what their specific purpose is. thanks
-------------------- Word of advice, never sell your system for rims... Posts: 47 | From: South Texas | Registered: Sep 2003
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posted
Fleece gets wrapped around first to make a shape. Spread resin on the Fleece, it soaks it up and makes the first layer. Matt or Cloth, wolven matt is stronger and soaks up more resin. Coth is for more agile crafting, which i say is crap cause matt can do anything cloth does...
Resin is this goopy stuff that stays liquid until you add hardner which is usually in just a wee little squirt bottle. and Bam! it takes ~10 minutes before the fiberglass goop gets really hot and starts to get hard.
So.. you need Fleece, Matt, Resin, lots of disposable gloves, 2" wood brushes, marked tubs for measuring, and some masking tape.
posted
Thanks, clears up alot of things but just 1 more question. Any kind of fleece and mat? I heard even t shirts as fleece and "mat" is fiberglass mat right?
-------------------- Word of advice, never sell your system for rims... Posts: 47 | From: South Texas | Registered: Sep 2003
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Large, thick fleece blankets are the way to go. You want it to be stretchy, but thick enough that it'll still sop up a lot of resin while it's stretched quite a bit. You're after "chop mat". You can get the stuff at just about any car parts store, like NAPA, Schuck's, or Knechts. It looks like a random weave of white strands (of fiberglass). You're also going to want a good staple gun to secure the fleece at the edges of the box and around the woofer cutout while you're shaping it. The best way I've found, that's still simple to do, is this:
Cut a ring of MDF to support the woofer, you'll want it to be fairly thin from the inside of the ring to the outside so you don't have a large flat area around the mounting flange of the woofer. Use thin bars of MDF to support it where you want it in relation to the rest of the enclosure. It should be on there pretty good for the next step, which is shaping and stretching the fleece over the structure and stapling it down as you go. You don't want any wrinkles in the fleece, so pull it pretty tight before stapling.
When you have the shape you want, lightly brush on a layer of resin and let it harden. Then do another. Then you can proceed to add chop mat to the back side of it and build it up. You'll want to fold some matt over in long pieces to make ridges to strengthen the shape. Chances are you'll want to do at least four or five full layers of chop mat coated in resin on the back. I would use regular Bondo on the front and get it fairly smooth, then sand it. You want the whole thing to be very very strong.
Getting a smooth look for the box is pretty difficult though. Most places use spray-on blends of body fillers and resin and then sand them very smooth and clearcoat to get a shiny finish. This is difficult and time consuming. You should probably look into wrapping the enclosure in vinyl if it isn't too strangely shaped. A friend of mine got a molded fleece enclosure done in the trunk of his Caprice and believe the plan was to spray it with a textured coating not unlike bedliner material, paint that, and then clearcoat it for a textured look. There are quite a few options for finishes.
-------------------- Team Soundworks 2001 World Record Holders SS 1-2 164.5 db 2001 World Finals - Second Place SS 1-2 167.8 db 2002 World Finals - Fourth Place SS 3-4 169.1 db Posts: 33 | From: Albany, OR | Registered: Apr 2002
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Thanks for the help. For practice im gonna make the sides, top & bottom, and back out of left over MDF and then try a fiberglass face for a 8 inch Rockford i got laying around. Heard practice makes perfect so...might as well.
-------------------- Word of advice, never sell your system for rims... Posts: 47 | From: South Texas | Registered: Sep 2003
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